An attempt to identify traffic related elements in snow

Abstract

The main objective of this article is an attempt to use snow as an indicator in the process of assessing and identifying vehicle-derived elements pollution. The aim of the present study is to characterize traffic-related elements in snow collected from three sites: a parking place, a highway and a relatively unpolluted airfield. Several recent studies suggest that road traffic is considered to be one of the major sources of environmental pollution in urban areas. In order to avoid the problem of low emission from household furnaces, samples were collected far away from residential buildings. Snow located near roads with heavy traffic seems to be a very useful tool and indicator of traffic-related elements released into the environment. Snow acts as a natural filter for various chemical elements and particles. Snow is an efficient scavenger of aerosol and air pollutants, usually remains on the ground for sampling after the event, moreover, snowmelt contaminates soil. In the present study filtered (0.45 µm) samples of melted snow were analyzed with ICP-MS. The results show significantly higher concentrations of elements in snow collected at the parking lot and at the highway when compared to samples taken from a relatively unpolluted airfield. Research on exploitation dust (break, tire, clutch) was performed with SEM-EDS.